This invention concerns methods of determining properties of oil, especially crude oil with a spectrometer. This invention also concerns a crude oil analytical and sampling device which is particularly suitable for the online measurement of crude oil properties with a spectrometer. This invention further concerns a crude oil sampling procedure which is particularly suitable for the online measurement of crude oil properties with a spectrometer.
Many properties of crude oil (chemical, physical and/or physic-chemical) are regularly determined on a very large scale worldwide, especially gas content and percentage of naphtha, gas oil and fuel oil, the latter being a key parameter in assessing the value of any oil. These determinations are usually done off line by mechanical techniques e. g. by distillation and/or chromatography.
WO9836274 discloses a method of controlling a separation of a component in crude oil, e.g. downstream of a well head, in which the oil is analysed, e.g. by near infra-red (NIR) spectroscopy, at or before a pipeline between the analyser and separator especially a line at least 10 km long and the results used to optimise the separation. The corresponding NIR spectroscopy is also used to determine a property, e.g. composition of a crude oil, in particular its content of naphtha, gas oil and/or fuel oil.
A catalog from the Welker Engineering Company includes pages 24-27 that relate to crude oil sampling products comprising e.g. a sampler and a crude oil container.
URL:http://www.swagelok.com/downloals/WebCatalogs/EN/MS-02-361.pdf, as retrieved on 2014 Oct. 29, is a catalog from the Swagelok Instrumentation Company which relates to fast loop modules which are designed to handle high flows in sample transport lines to reduce time delays for online analyser systems.
GB2030963 claims a method of obtaining a homogeneous sample from a liquid transfer line (for example a crude oil pipeline) comprising removing liquid from the transfer line and returning it to the transfer line through a return loop so that it enters the transfer line as a jet or jets of liquid which agitate the liquid in the transfer line to a substantially uniform mixture, and removing a sample from the uniform mixture.
WO2013126732 discloses a system for measuring asphaltene content of crude oil, which includes a microfluidic chip, the microfluidic chip having a crude oil sample inlet port, a solvent port, a mixer and reactor section in fluid communication with the crude oil sample inlet port and the solvent port, and a filter in fluid communication with the mixer and reactor section, the filter having an inlet side and an outlet side, a waste port in fluid communication with the inlet side of the filter, and a product port in fluid communication with the outlet side of the filter.